The Love of a LifeTime
by alias4eva07
Summary: My entry for sd-l.com's June challenge
1. Chapter 1

The Love of A LifeTime  
  
Author: Nicole (sv4ever07)  
  
Spoilers: All of seasons one and two (all the way through The Telling)  
  
Rating: PG (maybe PG-13)  
  
Summary: With the upcoming nuptials of friends, Michael has a lot of thinking to do, when he decides to finally reveal his feelings to Sydney, all things go wrong.  
  
Pairings: S/V and M/C  
  
Author's Note: Okay so this is the first challenge that I have entered and I really hope it is good and please read and review  
  
(3rd person POV)  
  
They sat in the kitchen of his apartment, what he soon hoped would be their apartment.  
  
He had ordered Chinese food and had had it delivered, it was after all her favorite food.  
  
Tonight had to be perfect, he was nervous enough already, and it seemed like as each second passed his nerves increased (if that was even entirely possible.)  
  
He looked up and became completely transfixed with the look of pure love pouring out through her eyes.  
  
Butterflies began to form in his stomach as he thought about how much his life would change tonight - whether she said yes or no - his life would still change.  
  
The time was coming and soon, and he was growing more and more nervous, to the point that he was visibly sweating.  
  
Wiping the sweat off his forehead, he looked up to see her chomping on the sesame chicken, her favorite.  
  
Now was the time he decided, jumping up from the table quickly, fingering the black velvet box in the front pocket of his blazer.  
  
"Marshall?" Carrie asked, "what's wrong?"  
  
He started pacing back and forth across the kitchen floor, rubbing his forehead. "Marshall, you're starting to scare me. What's going on?" Carrie questioned nervously.  
  
Marshall quickly wiped the sweat off his brow once more. "N-nothing's wrong Car," he replied shakily.  
  
"Something must be wrong Marshall," she told him, "the only time you stutter now is when you're nervous, so I know something is wrong."  
  
"So maybe I do have something on my mind," he said, "But that soon will be resolved."  
  
Carrie's look turned from scared to suspicious as she tried to interpret Marshall's statement. But he didn't give her enough time to decode his cryptic words.  
  
Next thing she knew, Marshall was down on one knee in front of her, grasping her hands tightly.  
  
Tears started to steadily flow down her cheeks and he hadn't even said anything yet.  
  
"Care-bear," he said, "Look at me."  
  
She brought her tear-streaked face up to meet his. He smiled, as she answered his smile with one of her own, her eyes crinkling around the corners, a few tears squeezing out the sides.  
  
He grabbed her hands tighter, "Carrie, I've loved you from the first minute I saw you in that debrief, you called me Mr. Flinkman, and I was just like wow! I instantly fell head over heels for you! Then you asked me out for sushi and I realized that you liked me too," he confessed, getting choked up, "And now sitting here, I know you love me as much as I love you, and that's what gave me the courage to ask you this next question. Carrie will you make me the happiest and luckiest man in this world and marry me?"  
  
"Oh my," she replied, the tears once again gracing her beautiful cheeks, "Of course I will. There's nothing I want more than you as my husband."  
  
Marshall smiled, suddenly not as nervous as he had been. He grabbed the velvet box out of his pocket and opened it to reveal the small, princess-cut diamond ring. He fidgeted as he placed the ring on her finger.  
  
They would be eternally bound and as Marshall kissed Carrie, they began their new life together.  
  
* * * *  
  
6 months later... (June 14, 2006) (Vaughn's POV)  
  
I sat in the crowd that day, my beautiful girlfriend sitting next to me, all our friends surrounding us as we sat and watced two of our other friends unite together through their love.  
  
Sydney squeezed my hand sitting beside me. "Isn't it such a beautiful ceremony?" she whispered.  
  
I nodded, "Just like someone else I know." I told her.  
  
She smiled back a slightly strained smile. Things still hadn't gotten back to how they had been 3 years before. It had been a year since she had come back from the "dead," only to find that her life had changed - Marshall and Carrie were together, Will was luckily alive, Francie and EvilFrancie were both dead, the love of her life was married to his ex-girlfriend Alice, and her life had fallen apart.  
  
That had been a year ago and luckily exactly two months ago the divorce papers had come through. I have been free of Alice for two months to the day, and I had been back with Sydney for the same amount of time.   
  
I was watching the wedding when I thought back to the last time I had been to a wedding. I had been the groom.  
  
~Flashback~  
  
It couldn't have been a more disastrous night. I had no clue what I was doing. I had been seeing Alice again for a month and a half and I had been drunk.  
  
She had taken advantage of me, "Michael but don't you love me?" she had asked.  
  
"Yeah sure, whatever Alice," I had slurred.  
  
She had grabbed my hand, "Michael, I love you and I know that you love me too. Now we were together for five years before this and look where that got us, back to square one. What our relationship needs is a committment. I can give a committment, can you Michael?" she had asked me.  
  
I unconciously nodded and she took that as a yes. She had ended up taking me down to the city hall, essentially we had eloped. I had no clue what was going on until I woke up the next morning married to Alice.  
  
I figured, what's the hurt? At least she thought I loved her, even though my heart wasn't with her.  
  
And then Sydney had come back and everything had changed...  
  
~End Flashback~  
  
I cringed and Sydney noticed. "Are you okay?" she asked quietly.  
  
I nodded, not being able to say a word staring into those chocolate brown eyes that I loved. I squeezed her hand and tuned back into the wedding ceremony going on in front of me.  
  
Of course I had missed most of the ceremony, but I did tune in to hear the minister say, "By the power vested in me and by the State of California, I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss your bride."  
  
Marshall lifted the veil over Carrie's head and the two of them kissed. Once they had seperated, the minister said, "May I now present Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Flinkman."  
  
Everyone in the crowd, including Sydney and myself, clapped as the happy couple walked down the aisle.  
  
* * * *  
  
Half an hour later, we all sat in Francie's restaurant (which was now being run by Will) at the reception. As Sydney and I walked in hand-in-hand, Sydney was signing the guestbook for the two of us.  
  
She was writing when I leaned over to whisper in her ear, "You know that I love you right?" I asked.  
  
She looked up at me with tears in her eyes and handed me the pen she had taken out of her purse, she turned and ran out the front door.  
  
I stared in shock and disbelief at her retreating back, occasionally glancing down at the heart patterned pen in my hand.  
  
I had to tough it out because it was Marshall and Carrie's wedding day, I had to show them some respect.  
  
I causally walked in and sat down at a booth by myself. I sighed when I saw Marshall and Carrie coming my way.  
  
Once they got here, Marshall asked, "Where's Syd?"  
  
I looked up at them with tears in my eyes. "She's gone. She gave me a pen. I gave her my heart, she gave me a pen," I replied holding the pen up for everyone to view.  
  
"And you love her?" Carrie questioned.  
  
"Of course," I told them, "With all my heart."  
  
"Then go after her," Marshall said.  
  
"But..." I was beginning to say, but Carrie cut me off.  
  
"Don't worry about us," she explained, "Love is more important than anything else in the world."  
  
I nodded, jumping up from the booth and heading for the door, I knew exactly where to find her...  
  
* * * *  
  
Twenty minutes later, I was strolling down the pier, looking for the love of my life, and then I spotted her.  
  
Before I had even reached her, she asked, "How did you know I was here?"  
  
"I remember everything we've ever talked about Syd," I replied with a slight smile on my face.  
  
"What are you doing here?" she questioned.  
  
"You know exactly what I'm doing here," I told her, a grim look on my face.  
  
"Tell me again?" she begged.  
  
"I love you?" I quizzically asked.  
  
She couldn't hold it in any longer, she flung herself into my arms, crying uncontrollably onto my shoulder. Between muffled sobs, I heard the four words I had waited all my life to hear, "I love you too."  
  
TBC... 


	2. Chapter 2

Title: The Love of a Lifetime  
  
(Vaughn's POV)  
  
I stared at her in shock. She quickly began to grow nervous, "Michael?" she asked me, "I just told you that I loved you too. Isn't that what you wanted to hear?"  
  
I quickly snapped out of my trance, picking her up and swinging her around in a full circle, completely forgetting that we were on the pier. I quickly set her back down pulling her lips up to mine.  
  
It felt so good to kiss her again this way, something I had been longing to do every lonely night I was by myself in my heart, but with Alice in reality.  
  
When we pulled away a few minutes (or hours, I simply could not remember) later, I had to grab Sydney's waist, as her knees turned to jelly.  
  
Mine too were beginning to shake, I quietly grabbed her hand and said, "We had better get back to the restaurant, Marshall and Carrie told me to go after you, they would be so happy to see you come back."  
  
She smiled, "Yeah, let's go back. I still want to tell them how beautiful the ceremony," she replied, "Plus we've got something to celebrate."  
  
"Yeah, what's that?" I asked, a smile gracing my features as I knew exactly what she was talking about.  
  
She playfully smacked my arm, "Stop being so dense. You know what I'm talking about."  
  
"Actually I don't think I do," I told her, but she obviously knew I was laying and just wanted her to say it again.  
  
"Fine! We have to celebrate Marshall and Carrie's wedding," she explained, trying to smother her grin, "And..."  
  
"And?" I questioned curiously.  
  
"And we have to celebrate that I love you and you love me too," she said, and when I didn't respond, she asked, "Right?"  
  
I smiled then, I loved how insecure she could be. I grabbed her hand and brought it to my mouth, kissing the backside, "Of course," was what I simply said before I began to drag her back to my car, "We need to get back to the reception now."  
  
"Yeah we do," she replied, "And who knows, maybe soon we'll be at another reception." Her devilish grin grew as I looked over and raised my eyebrow. Was she trying to tell me what I think she was trying to tell me?  
  
* * * *  
  
Sydney and I walked in the main door hand-in-hand. Everyone must have known what had happened because as we walked into the main foyer of the restaurant, all eyes turned on us.  
  
Sydney must have noticed too, because she squeezed my hand. Marshall was nice enough to break the awkward stares. "Dinner should be ready soon," he said, "Why doesn't everyone sit down."  
  
As everyone was finding a seat, Marshall and Carrie slipped through the crowd, heading our way.  
  
"I'm glad you could finally make it Syd," Carrie told her happily.  
  
"Yeah," Sydney replied, "I just had some issues I needed to sort out."  
  
"And I take it you sorted them out?" Marshall asked, pointedly looking down at Sydney's and my entwined hands.  
  
"Yep," I told them, "Everything's perfect." And for the first time in my life I actually believed it.  
  
* * * *  
  
What I didn't know was that Alice had seen the invitation addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Michael Vaughn when it had come in the mail five months before.  
  
She figured that even though we were getting divorced, she was still welcome. She had no clue that Sydney and I were even together, although she would soon find out.  
  
It was about twenty minutes after dinner had been served and everyone was dancing but Sydney and I. We were sitting in a booth, I was sitting on the outside corner facing the dance floor and she was sitting on my lap.  
  
We were watching everyone else dancing, me placing a kiss along her collarbone every once in a while.  
  
This is what I had missed while she was missing and I was married to Alice, just sitting around doing nothing, it was one of my favorite things to do.  
  
That was how we were positioned when Alice walked in, completely lost in the moment.  
  
It was then that she walked in, immediately searching me out, hoping that maybe we could talk, try to work things out. She wasn't expecting what she was about to find.  
  
"Michael, there you are," she cooed, "I was hoping..."  
  
And then she noticed Sydney in my lap, or better yet, Rita to her. "Who is that?" she asked me suspiciously, then Sydney turned her head, "Rita?"  
  
"Alice this is Sydney, my girlfriend," I introduced.  
  
Alice had wanted to scream, I knew it all by her face, I had seen that look many times during our short marriage. "Girlfriend?" she questioned in disbelief, "We've been divorced for less than two months and you've already got a girlfriend. I thought you loved me, were you seeing this tramp? Is that why we got divorced? Man you sure work fast Michael."  
  
"Tramp?" Sydney asked, then she looked at me, "Did she just call me a tramp?" I nodded my head.  
  
"Syd, why don't you let me handle this," I replied, "Go out and dance and I'll meet you out there when I'm done."  
  
"Okay," she said reluctantly, I leaned in and quickly brushed my lips against hers. "I love you," I whispered into her ear.  
  
"I love it when you say that," she told me, "And just for the record, I love you too." Then she slunk off onto the dance floor catching up with Weiss and beginning to dance with him.  
  
I watched her for a minute before I turned my steely gaze towards Alice, "What are you doing here Alice?" I asked, not bothering to hold back my anger.  
  
"They were my friends too Michael," she replied, "When we were married."  
  
"Well we're not married anymore," I told her as if she didn't know, "And they didn't even like you."  
  
"Obviously we're not married anymore," she said, pointedly glancing towards Sydney on the dance floor, "I thought you loved me Michael, I really thought you did."  
  
"I might have at one point loved you, but I was in love with Sydney," I explained, anger rising.  
  
"But I want to work things out between us Michael," she replied, "I really want to try and work things out."  
  
As if to answer her, I stalked off towards the dance floor, grabbing her and pulling her head to mine.  
  
"Well nice to see you again too," she said, "You do realize that Alice isn't going anywhere right?"  
  
"I don't care what Alice does," I told her, "I just want to dance with my beautiful girlfriend that I love so much."  
  
"That can be arranged," she grinned at me.  
  
TBC...  
  
Please read and review!!! ~nicole~ 


	3. Chapter 3

The Love of a Lifetime  
  
A/N: Here's the new chapter, thanks to everyone who was hounding me to post this  
  
And thanks to everyone who reviewed  
  
Please read and review!!! Oh and enjoy this chapter!!  
  
(Vaughn's POV)  
  
The next couple of hours went by pretty quickly, with me dancing with anyone from Sydney to Carrie, one time I even got stuck dancing with Alice.  
  
She sighed in my arms, as I grumbled about being stuck dancing with her. A year ago this would be no problem, I would actually be enjoying this.  
  
But now with Sydney back, everything was different, my life was different.  
  
I could feel Sydney watching me, she wasn't jealous or anything, she was worried about me and what I might do if Alice said the wrong thing.  
  
When she finally came into view, I saw that I was right. She was dancing with Weiss, her head resting on his shoulder with her cheek laying against his suit, watching me.  
  
I gave her a weak smile, to show her I was fine. Things were going as good as they could be given the situation, until Alice pulled me closer, flush up against her body.  
  
Luckily, just as she did that the song changed and I shover her away, reaching to my right to grab Sydney and bring her to me.  
  
She settled into my arms, as if we were made for each other, and leaned her head on top of my shoulder, whispering in my ear, "Are you alright?"  
  
"I'm fine," I replied, "Until the last 10 seconds of the song when Alice pulled me as close to her as she could."  
  
"Kinda like this?" she asked seductively, pulling me closer to her exactly like Alice had not more than a few minutes before.  
  
"But I like it when you do it," I flirted right back, a grin coming over my once somber features.  
  
"I like the way you talk," she said, a grin gracing her beautiful features.  
  
"I love you so much," I told her.  
  
She smiled, "And I love you too," she replied, "But you already know that seeing as I've told you what five times tonight?"  
  
I nodded, "And I believe you and I won't let anything come between us," I said, sending her the secret message that there was no way Alice would ever come between us again, that had already happened twice.  
  
Instantly, the song changed and before I let Sydney go, I told her, "I love you, don't forget that."  
  
She smiled, "How could I?" she asked, "Me too."  
  
With a quick kiss goodbye she went on to her next dance partner.  
  
I watched as she went to dance with Will, and looked around to see who was left, to find only one person...Weiss.  
  
This was going to be a comical dance if nothing else.  
  
I saw him shake his head as he began to walk my way, and once he got closer I heard what he was muttering, "No! This cannot be happening! For the love of God!"  
  
I smiled as he reached me and gave him my hand, while he just glared at me. I couldn't help it anymore, I burst out laughing.  
  
Apparently he didn't find it very funny, "Mike, of all the people here why did I get stuck dancing with you? I would of rather danced with 'it' over there," he said glancing at Alice.  
  
"Been there, done that already," I replied, "Not too much fun, especially when it's your ex-wife whose sole purpose of being here is to try to win you back."  
  
"But you've got Syd back again so it doesn't matter," he told me, when I didn't answer he asked, "Right?"  
  
"Oh of course I have Syd back again and I wouldn't want it any other way," I explained, "But Alice is trying to get under Sydney's skin - she called her a tramp earlier."  
  
"And Alice is still here?" he questioned with wide eyes, "I would of thought she would be lying in the emergency room right now."  
  
"Oh and she almost was," I replied, "I told her I could handle Alice and told her to go dance, that's when she danced with you earlier."  
  
"So Alice is the one to blame for my nearly broken hands, just let me tell you Syd has some strength," Weiss said, "I'll have to remember to hurt Alice later."  
  
I just smiled, "Well the song's almost over, so we're almost done with our slow dancing experience," I told him, "This is the first time I've ever slow danced with a guy, and hopefully the last."  
  
"Was I really that bad?" Weiss asked with a grin the size of the Grand Canyon across his face.  
  
I chuckled and was going to answer when the song stopped - ha! saved by the end of the song.   
  
I spotted Sydney across the dance floor and noticed she was laughing hysterically after seeing me dancing with Weiss.  
  
I headed her way, figuring I could steal my beautiful girlfriend for another dance, but I was halfway there when I noticed Alice grabbing Sydney as her next partner.  
  
TBC...  
  
So did you like it???   
  
Please read and review!!  
  
~nicole~ 


	4. Chapter 4

(Vaughn's POV)  
  
I watched as Alice grabbed Sydney's arm and yanked her. Clearly Alice had a death wish. I grabbed Carrie and steered her closer to Sydney and Alice.  
  
She knew what I was doing and smiled, "I'll be quiet because I know that you want to hear Sydney and Alice's conversation."  
  
I nodded and as we started swaying to the music, I heard Sydney mutter, "What do you think you're doing?"  
  
"You and me," Alice replied, "We're going to have a conversation. A heart-to-heart per say."  
  
I watched as Sydney's beautiful face turned into a scowl. "I don't want to have a heart-to-heart with you," Sydney said, "Now let go of me and never touch me again."  
  
As Sydney turned to walk away Alice grabbed her wrist and dug her nails in, "Don't walk away from me," she snarled, "You're going to stand here and listen to what I have to say."  
  
I pulled away from Carrie and headed in that direction, until Carrie grabbed my elbow, "Let them talk this out," she told me, "If it gets too out of control then we'll go over there."  
  
I nodded and watched as Sydney got a defiant look on her face, "Who says I have to listen to you?" she asked with vehemance in her voice.  
  
I knew Sydney was losing her patience and Alice would soon regret confronting Sydney.  
  
"You stole my husband right out from under my nose!" Alice exclaimed, "The least you could do is listen to what I have to say."  
  
"If I wouldn't have gone missing he wouldn't be your husband, he'd be mine," Sydney replied, "And if it weren't for your taking advantage of his loss of me, he never would have married you! He never wanted to marry you!"  
  
Carrie touched my arm and said, "Let's go!" as she saw that the argument was getting out of control.  
  
Just as we got there, Alice slapped Sydney across the face, screaming, "You bitch!" she exclaimed, "You're a slut, you know that? Stealing a woman's husband? You're a homewrecker!"  
  
Sydney went after her, but I wrapped my arms around her waist just as she attempted to reach for Alice. She thrashed against my arms, straining to get out and go after Alice.  
  
"Let me go! Let me go after her! Now!" she screamed.  
  
It seemed as if now we had everyone's attention. Marshall came over and asked Carrie, "What's going on?"  
  
"It seems as if Alice here provoked Sydney and then slapped her," Carrie replied.  
  
I had never seen Marshall so mad before, he grabbed Alice by the elbow and dragged her across the room, shoving her out the front door, "That's for crashing my wedding reception and provoking one of my best friends." And then he slammed the door in her face.  
  
We all watched as Alice stared through the window for a second and then stormed off into the darkness.  
  
By that time Sydney had settled down in my arms. She was now sobbing uncontrollably into my shoulder. "Shh...it's okay," I whispered, "Everything's going to be okay."  
  
**************************  
  
Please read and review! 


End file.
